1. Transit, barbecue: 00:01

The Toronto Transit Commission went on strike today, which meant that
I was stuck in downtown Toronto and couldn't get to IBM. I caught up
on sleep and tidied my room instead. In the evening, I helped with the
Graduate House barbecue. One of the downsides of hosting such a large
event is that I had hardly any time to talk to people during the event
itself, but I'm looking forward to chatting with people throughout the
next few months. =)

Random Japanese sentence: このようにして、おじいさんは、あたりをみまわすたびに、きれいなねこがみつかっておいていくことができなくなりました。そして知らない間に、そこにいるねこをみんな拾い上げてつれていくことになってしまいました。 So it happened that every time the very old man looked up, he saw another cat which was so pretty he could not bear to leave it, and before he knew it, he had chosen them all. Kono you ni shite, ojiisan wa, atari o mimawasetabini, kirei na neko ga mitsukatte oite iku koto ga dekinakunarimashita. Soshite shiranai aida ni, soko ni iru neko o minna hiroiagete tsurete iku koto ni natte shimaimashita.

2. Networking with Moleskines: 02:23

I'm somewhat notorious for writing notes during conversations. I keep 'minutes' in a little black book that I always carry with me. I can't help it! I love learning from people, and I don't trust my memory. I want to be able to get back in touch with people so that I can continue interesting conversations, and I want to be able to introduce people to other interesting people so that I can listen in on _their_ conversations and learn even more. =)

My Moleskine notebook is the perfect size for my conversation notes.
The back flap is great for storing business cards and index cards.
I've numbered every other page, which makes it easy to keep an index
at the back of page numbers and contents. This was really handy when I
used my Moleskine to keep lists of random things. Now that I'm using
it for more chronological notes, I don't need to update the index that
often.

I start the day by writing the date. Throughout the day, I scribble
down names of people I talked to and what I talked to them about. If I
need to follow up with someone, I add a star and a note about what to
say. Action items also get stars - anything I need to do or write. =)

I love having a record of the conversations I've had and the people
I've met. I hate just having names and contact information in my
address book. I'd rather having stories and vivid memories of people!
This also forces me to listen better and interact more deeply with
people, because I have to be able to write down at least one
interesting thing about them. =)

This also allows me to keep a richer history of the people I've met. I
used to keep detailed notes on the people I met through e-mail and
IRC, writing down little tidbits that showed up on my screen whenever
they e-mailed me or chatted with me. For example, one of my entries
starts: "Left-handed, red-headed, uses a kinesis keyboard with a
Dvorak layout, into unicycles..." Bringing my computer out and adding
notes to people's records while I'm talking to them is really awkward,
though. (Believe me, I've tried!) I write notes in my Moleskine
instead, adding them to my computer when I get the chance.

I can add hyperlinks on paper by flipping back to the last time I
mentioned a person, adding an arrow and a note to the current page,
and doing the same to link the current entry back to the previous one.
For example, when I met Himy at the Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington
Market, I knew that I had written his e-mail address down before, and
I trusted that my Moleskine would have it. That allowed me to focus on
our conversation and scribble down things like "giant outstallation
art" and "Toronto psychogeography".

When I reviewed my notes, I linked the entries together. I met him at
the Mesh afterparty, and it was easy to go back and find his e-mail
address (on page 93!). I then added a forward-link to p118 and a
backward-link from p118 to p93, remembering in the process more
details of our previous conversation. Then I added the data to my
contacts. (Still not complete, but growing bit by bit...)

Good stuff. Very good stuff.

Next step: I'm planning to make a cover for my Moleskine so that I can
keep my fountain pen with it all the time. That way, I'll always know
where both of them are. I might also keep a tiny, cheap mechanical
pencil with my Moleskine so that I can sketch things. I can also lend
the pencil to people who need something for writing.

Once I finish this notebook (only 68 pages to go!), I'll try using one
of the thinner notebooks with detachable pages. That would be more
elegant than carrying around a lot of index cards. I've gotten used to
being able to just strap random stuff into the notebook, though, so
we'll see how that works out. Or maybe I should just print more
business cards and put a lot in the back pocket of my notebook...

I'm still figuring out a good way to make incomplete followups jump
out at me. If I was more diligent about margins, I could use circles
in the left margin to indicate the need for a followup. I could then
shade the circle when I've followed up with that person.

This is also great when I'm doing something like Greg Narain's
Stranger-a-Day project. I still haven't quite gotten the courage to
approach random people and say hi to them, but I'm working my way up
from being able to converse with practically anyone. =) I'll get there soon!

I'm still bad at following up with people immediately after events. I
need to put aside more time after get-togethers to do that.

I'd love to have a Blackberry so that I can ping people while walking
on my way to class or taking the train to work. Nothing really major,
just quick thinking-of-you things. As small as my laptop is, it's just
not as convenient as my Moleskine or my cellphone, and wireless
internet isn't available everywhere. But I can't send e-mail from my
cellphone, much less my Moleskine. Oh well. I'd like to plan a career
that'll make something like that cost-effective. =)

Would a PDA be better for this kind of notetaking? I like not having
to look at the paper while I'm writing. I can usually read my
handwriting afterwards. I can use digital ink, I guess, but it doesn't
quite feel the same. Besides, my fountain pen gets oohs and aahs. ;)
(Yes, I'm silly!) Sure, I have to copy information out again, but that
reinforces the links. (And I don't have to worry about battery
life...)

Still, I'll try firing up my iPaq again and seeing if that works for
me. Could it be any better than my beloved Moleskine, my little black
book? =) I want to meet more people and learn more things and make
more connections between others. My Moleskine's a terrific tool for
the job, and I love how it feels, too: cream paper, red-black ink...
It makes me happy, and it makes getting to know people so much fun. =)

I think you will be disappointed if you try to use an electronic notetaking method over paper. You really already made the argument against the switch yourself. Paper and pen are less distracting, never run out of power, and simpler to use for notes like you are trying to do. You want the flexibility to jot a networking note anywhere, anytime, very quickly at the time it is in your brain. I've been through various handheld computers trying to do what you're describing, and I was surprised how much I fell in love with my Hispter PDA that I made from a stack of notecards. I've since converted my Hipster cards into pages in my Moleskine pocket edition and it goes with me everywhere. For someone like you, your Moleskine won't be the only place you keep your ideas and you'll often need other resources to take action (like sending and email), but the ease of use of paper and a nice pen (mine's a Fischer Bullet Space Pen) means you're more likely to capture the idea/conversat!

ion/contact in the first place. Like you said, copying it to another resource (an online to do list, an email server, etc.) reinforces the item in your head and can be done when you have more time. Use your iPaq for databases (I'm a physician and I keep a medication database on my Palm that is updated via the Web when I HotSync), highly detailed contact info, and maybe your calendar. Program your email address into your cell phone and send yourself short SMS reminders about other emails ("lynn meeting" to remind yourself to email lynn about that meeting you wanted to schedule the next time you sit in front of your email). Keep the Moleskine.

Welcome to the lifehack.org folks! By the way, I'm into social
computing (blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, etc.) and I want to learn
more about technology evangelism. Check out my about:me. =)

3. More thoughts on Barcamp, no answers: 02:49

Dominique helpfully offered suggestions on adapting
BarCamp to the Philippines. He said that
it was doable, but challenging. He asked me the top five people I'd
like to be there. He suggested having interdisciplinary talks by
invited speakers on entrepreneurship, physics, biology, etc. Many of
the Linux geeks who regularly speak at events would no doubt turn up,
too.

I had such a strong reaction against his ideas that I had to stop
myself from being frustrated. I recognized that I felt he didn't
understand what unconferences were about. I also recognized that I
couldn't yet articulate the differences between unconferences and
conferences in a way that would make the changes and benefits clear. I
was frustrated, yes, but I was frustrated with myself for being unable
to figure out how to hack unconferences into Filipino culture without
turning the event into yet another thing that divides speakers from
audience instead of creating a community of participants.

I knew Dominique wanted to help me think things through, but the
strength and irrationality of my reaction made me realize that I
needed to first think things over with people who know the
unconference culture and who may have insights into helping a new
community adapt.

I need more insight from people like Chris Messina and David Crow. How
does one hack unconferences into a society's culture? How can I help
people go from a strongly hierarchical culture to a flatter one? Must
ask Don Marti, too...

I don't have answers. I don't even know where to start. One good thing
is that I can recognize when I'm hitting a wall, though. When I heard
Dominique repeat his suggestion for inviting talks from outside
disciplines and I knew I just couldn't listen well enough to do him
credit, I thanked Dominique for sharing his thoughts and confessed my
inability to discuss things further at this time. I need to talk to
the others first. I need to figure things out.

You know, it's just _so_ tempting to not think about how to hack
something like unconferences into Philippine society. It would be so
easy to just enjoy the fruits of other people's labor in a tech
culture that's starting to take off. But I want to bring these ideas
home...

And you know what? Maybe I don't need to figure out how to get people
out of their chairs and into the conversation. Maybe I can focus on
just meeting the Web 2.0 entrepreneurs, the connectors who are
reaching out to me and to each other. I'd like to meet them in person
and get them to talk to each other. Maybe I don't have to think about
doing that this August. Maybe I can do that this December, if I can
afford to go home.

I don't feel bad about being asked tough questions. I feel bad about
not knowing the answers and not even being able to explain why
something doesn't feel right. I just need to talk to more people and
try more things in order to figure out what to do.

And I seriously need hot chocolate and a hug, but that's just because
I'm feeling all lost again... I'll try to postpone thinking about it
until Friday, as I'm booked until then.

4. More thoughts on Barcamp II: 03:40

I personally am not tired of conferences. I am just tired of tired conferences. Particularly the ones with the same group of twenty talking heads saying the same twenty things. - Stowe Boyd

I know public speaking scares the heck out of most people, but maybe
we can get more people into the conversation...

I remember facing two hundred people at one of the PLUG technical
sessions, all quiet as a mouse. I remember feeling _really_ frustrated
by the notion that they might just be there to listen to people talk
(possibly over their heads, eh?), get their certificate and go on with
their lives. Or maybe they were just thinking about lunch. Ah, well.

I want small groups, so no one can hide in the anonymity of crowds. ;)
I'm tired of audiences. I want participants. I don't want to hear
presentations. I want to be part of conversations.

5. Blogging is vanity: 13:50

Congratulations to Stephen Perelgut for making it to the #1
most-commented blog entry in IBM and #4 hottest blog! Heh. Blogging as
ego-stroking. ;) It was an interesting blog entry, though, and I'm
glad he sparked such a conversation. Hooray for blogs!

I usually hover about #3 on hottest blogs within IBM. Stephen thinks
it's because my blog title is "geek - girl - dogear dogmatist," and
the combination of "geek" and "girl" makes most people click. ;)

6. fMRI study: 15:58

I'm at the Sunnybrook Hospital waiting for the researchers to do an
fRMI scan of my brain. One of the researchers - Magda - has promised
to e-mail me a JPEG of the structural analysis, and I might hike over
to Hasher Lab to get the time series data as well. =)

It's good to know that the fMRI console is a Unix box. I can recognize
the fvwm window manager anywhere. ;) Besides, the tech knows at least
a little about Unix. I saw some command-line use over there, and I
think he was using vi too...

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Page: 2006.05.30

Updated: 2006-06-0301:00:0601:00:06-0400

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